Early on Gloria’s family instilled in her the drive to put people first, no matter the cost. Growing up, Gloria remembers sleeping in the hallway of their family home, instead of her bedroom, to avoid gunshots from the KKK.  The Klan terrorized her family because Gloria’s Dad, an FBI Special Agent, had the courage to investigate their wickedness in the Deep South and bring members of the KKK to justice. 

A special education teacher of 27 years, Gloria was fed up with elected officials attacking the rights of public school students and teachers. After the legislature took away a teacher’s seat at the table, she decided to run for the Tennessee House in Knoxville in 2012 — she won and has been fighting to hold extreme politicians and special interests accountable ever since. 

This year, when a murderer stole the lives of three 9-year-olds and three adults in a mass school shooting in Tennessee, Gloria once again stood tall for victims of injustice. As a member of the “Tennessee Three” she demanded Republican politicians in Nashville stop with the BS and pass gun safety measures to prevent future shootings. For speaking truth to power, Republican leaders tried to kick her out of office.  But Gloria survived the politically charged expulsion vote and she is now helping to build a statewide movement for change.

In August 2023, during a special legislative session, Gloria stood up before Tennessee’s leadership to recount the day her former high school was devastated by a school shooting, where her students witnessed their classmate take his last breath. Her Republican colleagues were interested in protecting guns instead of kids, and instead passed draconian legislation to censor grieving families and elected leaders at the Tennessee Capitol. 

Tennesseans are fed up with corrupt, “do nothing” politicians, like Marsha Blackburn, who has taken millions from the pharmaceutical industry, the NRA and the insurance industry while voting against lowering our drug costs, against bipartisan gun reform, and for denying coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.  And Tennessee women deserve a Senator who trusts them to make their own medical decisions, unlike Blackburn who called the repeal of Roe v. Wade “a blessing” and has long supported passing a federal abortion ban.

Gloria is running for U.S. Senate because she knows it is time to shift power back where it belongs: with working and middle class families.